CHICAGO -- Popular "pulp" magazine Dark Adventure Mystery Stories is set to enter the world of wireless when it launches a new program, Dark Adventure Radio Theatre. The Fleurs-de-Lys cigarette company will sponsor the show, which will be broadcast from coast to coast.

Hosting the show will be well-known radio personality Chester Langfield. Radio lovers will remember him from his appearances on the Forhan's Toothpaste Hour of Smiles, airing Tuesday nights on the C.B.S. Langfield will introduce each episode of the new show and play occasional roles in the dramatized productions, it is said. "I cannot wait to share these thrilling and suspenseful stories with our radio audience", Langfield said, "Each episode is sure to be macabre journey that will leave you breathless."

Each episode will be a dramatization of one of the stories appearing in the popular monthly publication. Dark Adventure, as it is known to its "fans," regularly features weird tales of horror, the occult, and fantastical fiction by such notable authors as H. P. Lovecraft, Sax Rohmer, Zeke Ford, Jasper Titan, Robert Bloch, Edgar Allan Poe, H. G. Wells, and many others. Editor Warden Hale says that new stories, written just for radio production, will also be featured.

Although popular among young readers of "pulp" fiction, Dark Adventure is not without its detractors, who say its breathless stories corrupt the morals of the young and lead to a derangment of the nerves. A mysterious fire in the magazine's offices last year has been rumored to be the work of outraged citizens hoping to put it out of business. The fire destroyed back numbers and resulted in a temporary delay in publication, but the magazine has survived and is now preparing to take another step forward. Editor Hale predicts a bright future for the enterprise.

Luther Fairbairn, chief executive of Fleurs-de-Lys Tobacco, says the company is delighted to be sponsoring the new show. "The fellows who smoke Fleurs-de-Lys like rugged, manly adventure," he says, "just as much as they like the smooth taste of the finest cigarettes money can buy."

Investors in the stock market seemed to take heart in the Fleurs-de-Lys sponsorship deal as New World Incorporated (NWI), the parent company of the Fleurs-de-Lys brand, ticked upward with the announcement of the partnership with Dark Adventure. "Radio is a boon to mankind," said company president Edward Chandler, "and it's the future of popular entertainment. NWI always keeps its eye on the future."

Dark Adventure Radio Theatre will follow in the footsteps of The Shadow and The Lone Ranger, two other radio shows based on the exploits of characters from pulp fiction. While those shows depend on one central character who recurs in each episode, Dark Adventure will take a different approach. "You might see a number of Nate Ward stories," said Editor Hale, referring to a popular character who appears in a series of tales from the magazine's pages, "but the show doesn't hang on any one figure." The characters who appear in the magazine's stories tend not to survive their encounters with the forces of darkness, Hale explained.

Tune in to Dark Adventure Radio Theatre often for hours of thrills and cosmic horror!